What is a pendrive?

This small device called a flash drive is already mandatory in the pocket of many, and some even find it already difficult live without him, by being a practical accessory, easy to use and compatible with all operating systems market, including Windows, Mac and Linux.

Technically, the flash drive is a portable storage device composed of a flash memory, accessible through a USB port. Its capacity varies by model, and today we can find in the market pen drives with a capacity of up to 1 TB in minimum space, and it is projected to shortly pendrives with 2TB of storage capacity, which in comparison with those old hard drives of 44 Mb. that are installed in the first PCs, it is a true evolution in data storage technology.

Storage capacity and format

Because of their small size and capacity, long since buried in oblivion the old and nostalgic diskette 3.5 “, which provided capacities up to 1.44 Mb. Optical CDs attempted to replace floppy disks, but its portability and convenience is lower than the flash drive. At present there is no so fast portable storage medium for data recording and reading as is a USB flash drive, in fact, these characteristics became it popular very quickly.

It is believed that the term “pendrive” have been granted because the first portable device with flash memory has been like a pencil. Another possibility is that this accessory is so small it can be considered even more practical that load a pencil.

Thanks to the small size of the electronics inside the pendrive, manufacturers of this type of device may include a flash drive in virtually any case, since they can be found in all formats, even the most unlikely.

Today, flash drives are already offered as corporate gifts, printed with company logo. If you want to save important information on your flash drive, choose a model devoted only to store data, a manufacturer established in the market. Who uses a less reliable should be prepared to pay the consequences of the choice made.

When connected: remember that the pendrive is fragile

A flash memory can be used for 5 years or more. Its half-life is greater than that of a conventional hard drive. However, the memory chip is mounted on a printed circuit to which are soldered to the USB connector by 4 contacts fixed on the external body, usually plastic. The PCB is fragile and its fixation is not as solid as it seems. There’s the rub.

Even if the USB port is in a convenient location, even when properly insert the pendrive into the connector all the time, even though our movements are firm, the fact of connect or disconnect the USB flash drive into the connector daily, leads to material fatigue inevitably,cutting some circuit or compromising internal contacts.

As none of this can be avoided, the way is to try to extend the life of the device. A good solution is to connect the flash drive to the computer via a USB “male / female” cable adaptor, easy to find and very inexpensive.

Connect the flash drive through this type of adapter cables is easier and subjected the device to less stress. Besides this, the device is not attached to the computer USB port, predisposed to physical breakage or snagging stroke, which occurs more often than many actually imagine.

After connecting, maintain the pendrive fixed on the connector

The USB ports on your computer allow data transfer at high speed. On the other hand, the internal connections of the computer, through which moves the bitstream, are welded to circuit, or depend of very fair inserts, with just the addition of fixing screws, in the best case.

Despite the friendly aspect of USB connections, you cannot treat them with the same carelessness with which you use an electrical outlet, or an audio plug. A movement, however small, in the contact surfaces during transfer may damage your files.

Therefore, once connected the pendrive to the USB port, and the icon appears in the notification bar of the operating system, confirming recognition of the device, already should not move.

Considers that the pendrive only as a means of data transport.

The stick works like a hard disk. Thus you end up using it as such, working directly with the stored files. Maybe you’re doing this, ignoring the risk to which it is exposed. However our luck might end, and when we least expect it, the files could disappear.

The reality is that we should not think too much, all we have to do to keep safe our files, is to plug the USB flash drive to copy the files to the hard disk of the computer, work with them until the end, and then re-copy these files to the flash drive.

The pendrive, like any device with USB connection, has the characteristic of being “hot-swappable”, i.e. can be connected or disconnected on the computer even when the computer turned on without damaging the pendrive, or the port that is connected.

The stored data, however, can be damaged if the device is removed during read or write operations. To prevent this from happening, before removing a flash drive must be stopped removable drive for safe removal.

When transporting, remember that the pendrive is fragile.

Although pendrives can be placed on key chains, hung in the neck, or become jewelry, there are safer places for transport. Inside the pocket or bag, the device will be more protected against falls and contact with water.